Tim Banks’ unit has been relentless in his first season on Rocky Top.

Tennessee’s new-look defense has shined through eight games despite dealing with injuries in the midst of depth issues. The improvements from last season are most noticeable on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

The Vols have made 70 tackles for a loss this season, which is good enough for most in the SEC and second-most in the country. Their 8.75 tackles for loss per game is the best in the nation.

“You try to play to the strengths of your players,” Banks told the media this week. “We pride ourselves in trying to minimize their weaknesses and putting those guys in the best possible positions to be successful.

“It’s more of a credit to them, how hard they’re playing and giving the scheme a chance. But, really, it’s all about the kids and how hard they’re playing. Those are the guys that are out there making the plays.”

Tennessee has produced four games this season in which it has produced double-digit tackles for a loss. A total of 26 Vols have at least 0.5 TFL, while 15 have multiple TFLs.

Redshirt-junior Jeremy Banks leads the defense with 9.0 tackles for a loss. That’s good enough for fourth-most in the SEC. Banks’ 4.5 sacks leads the team as well and ranks eighth in the conference.

“We obviously wanted to identify the personnel that we had and figure, again, how best to utilize those guys,” Banks said. “In everything we want to do, we want to be aggressive, whether we’re in our four-down, three-down, depending on what coverage we’re in.

“Every year is a new year. We try, again, to evaluate the talent that we have and match it up with the scheme the best we can. Again, to the credit of the kids, they’re playing extremely hard and they’re making a ton of plays, so hats off to those guys.”

The effort of Tennessee’s defense hasn’t just resulted in an increase in plays made behind the line of scrimmage. It’s impacted all areas of the unit.

Tennessee has held four of five opponents under 100 rushing yards and is one of only five SEC teams to not allow a play of 70 or more yards. Through eight games, the defense is allowing nearly five less points than last season, 0.72 less yards per play and have intercepted five more passes.

The Vols were ranked 76th (5.83) in the country in yards per play last year. They’re currently ranked 37th (5.11). Tennessee’s eight interceptions are 34th-most after finishing 91st last year with just three picks.

“We tell those guys every day, to get better, it starts with practice,” Banks said. “Those guys work extremely hard, so if we just continue to stay the course, at some point we’re going to get to the other side. I know our kids believe that, and we definitely believe that as coaches, so we’ll keep grinding and I know those guys will, as well.”

It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses this season. Opposing quarterbacks have had success running the football against the Vols. Tennessee has also struggled to get off the field on third down.

This year, opponents are converting 45.65% of the time on third down against UT. That’s second-worst in the SEC and 118th in the country.

“Those are some of the things, obviously, that we’ve been looking at from week to week,” Banks said. “Continuing to put pressure on the quarterback. Obviously, covering better. Everything goes hand-in-hand. I think it’s too much of a global issue that we’ve got to make sure that we’re handling. I don’t think we can pinpoint one particular group or one particular scheme. I just think we’ve got to do a better job of obviously understanding how many yards they need and don’t let them get it.

“It’s simple as that. But we’re definitely working toward it to try to get that done.”

Tennessee now turns its attention to a trip up north to Lexington to take on No. 18 Kentucky.

The Wildcats don’t pop on offense, ranking 12th in the SEC in scoring offense (27.0 ppg), eighth in rushing offense (175.3 ypg), second-to-last in passing offense (191.0 ypg) and 12th in total offense (366.3 ypg).

Still, Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is capable of making enough plays to beat the Vols. Banks of all people knows that, dating back to his time as defensive backs coach at Penn State where Levis previously played quarterback.

“Tremendous athlete, big, can run, super-strong arm,” Banks said. “He seems like he’s a lot more comfortable in terms of throwing the ball. He’s always had a strong arm, but he seems to show more poise. And I think that just comes with maturity and the more reps he’s gotten, but I’ve also thought he had a chance to be a really good player, an elite player. And he’s obviously done a great job at Kentucky.”

The Vols and Cats renew their rivalry on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.